Automatic gate mechanism



Aug. 28, 1928. 1,682,353

' J. W. SHEAN AUTQMATIC GATE MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY CROSSINGS Filed Jan.'7, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 4 x 1 r a Bylgtmw Attorney Aug. 28, 1928.1,682,353

J. w. SHEAN AUTOMATIC GATE MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY CROSSINGS Filed. Jan.7, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jim/29027 Byg ' Attorney I Inventor PatentedAug. 28, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH WILLIAM SHEAN, OF-SIEARVILLE, KANSAS.

AUTOMATIC GATE MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY CROSSINGS. I

Application filed January meved into closed position whenever a trainapproaches the crossing in either'direction, and this in a simple butyet highly eflicient operating manner. j y i A still further andin'iportant object is to provide a mechanism that may be installedwithout great expenditure and without re' quiring the employment ofskilled labor.

lVith the above and other objects in view as the nature of the inventionwill be better understood, the same comprises the novel form,combination and arrangement of parts l'iereinafter more fully described,shown in the accompanying drawings, and claimed.

In the drawings wherein'like reference characters indicate correspondingparts throughout the several views:

liigure 1 is a top plan View of my 1mproved automatic gate mechanismwherein is clearly disclosed the electric Wiring diagram necessary inthe successful operation of the mechanism.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the mecha nism.

Figure 3 is a. detail vertical section of one of the which the operatingmechanism for the arm :lorinoving the same from vertical to horizontalposition, andviee versa. I V Figure 4. a similar vertical section takenat right angles through the post shown in Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary section through a train cnginecab H001 and toa third rail construction, the latter comprises essential elements ofthe invention, the floor being equipped with manually controlled-contactmeans for engaging said third rail, said means being disclosed in sideelevation, and

flligure 6 is an enlarged perspective of one of said manually controlledcontacts.

Now having particular reference to the drawing, there is shown in Figure1 a high way designated A, that crosses a railroad track B, the rails ofwhich are designated 0c.

In carrying out my invention there is installed in the trackway directlyintermediate the rails o0 a third. rail designated generally 5, thatincludes an inverted T'-shaped ingate arm supporting posts within:

7, 1925. Serial in). 79,840.

sulating rail 6 which is secured to the usual I rail supporting tics. Ametallic bar 7 .is disposed directlyupon the upper edge of saidinsulating inverted'T-shaped rail, as shown 'in'liigure 5. i v

g The invention further constitutes the pro-- vision of pairs of gatearm supporting posts disposed upon opposite sides of the trackway B andupon opposite sides of the roadway A. each of said post-s beingvertically disposed as clearly shown in Figure 2, and being desig-Suitabl y jonrnalcd nated by the numeral 8. within openings in theopposed. side walls 01" each post 8 and arranged parallel. with theroadway A is a shaft 9, the inner end of which projects through theadjacent side *all of the post, and carries a gate arm 10. Each. shaft 9carries a. spur gear 11 that meshes with teeth 12 of a verticallyslidably disposed rack bar 13 of relatively great weight guided forvertical movement within suitable bearings 1et1l, as shown in Figures3a'nd l. r

Supported upon a suitable platform 15 within each hollow post is a heavyduty elec.

, tric motor 16, one end of thearmature *shaitt oi wlnch is equippedwith a relatively large spur gearl'? that also meshes with the teeth 1.2of the rack bar-'18 in order that a rotation of the motor in onedirection will cause the raising of the arm which movement will cause arotation of the shaft 9 in such a direction as to swing the gate armdownwardly into position horizontally above the roadway A as shown inFigure 2.

Also mounted within each. hollow post 8 directlyabove the raclrbar l3,and in spaced relation therewith when the same is in its' loweredposition is an electro-magnet 18, the source of electric supply for saidmagnet and said motor 16*being' hereinafterdescribed,

In Figures 2 and 5, the reference character 19 designates an. enginecabin floor that is provided. with a suitable opening 20 directly abovethe third rail 5 between the rails c c of the t ackway B. Pivoted to theunderside of said floor at opposite edges of the opening 20 and extending upwardly through the opening at their upper ends are pivoted handlelevers 21-21 that carry at their upper ends conventional detents 22-22for cooperation with toothed segments 2323 secured upon the floor boardfor maintaining the levers in various adjusted positions. The lower endof each lever 21' is forked as at 24,-in Figure 6, and rigidly securedtherein and insulated from the lingers of the forks is a metalliccontact plate 25 that carries at its rear side a wire securing jack 26.

As more clearly shown in Figure 5, the Contact carrying ends of thelevers 2121 extend downwardly at opposite sides of the third rail 5 andare normally maintained in the out of contact position as shown in thisfigure. 15y swinging the lovers 2.l2l upon their pivots in acertaindirection, said contrically connected to said contacts of the motors l6and electromagnets 18 within the posts 8, while the other contacts ofsaid motors and electromagnets are electrically connected tohe thirdrail ,5, it being noted that the motors and magnets in the posts uponboth sides of the track way are connected to the rail and sides of thethird rail adj a.- cent these posts for the obvious purpose of )ermittinthe ate arms of each )air of i s to be'swung downwardly in unison.Associated with each motor 16 is a cut out switch that includes apivotal plate 28 thatis adaptedto be engaged by a pin 29 carried by eachrack bar 13 after the same has been moved upwardly to such an extent asto draw its corresponding gate arm in the downward horizontal posit-ionas shown in Figure 2 for thus cutting out the circuit to theparticularmotor for preventing further operation of the same. 7

The third rail 5 extends a great distance beyond opposite sides of theroadway A and it will be obvious that upon theiengagement of the levercontacts with the bar 7 of the rails, the circuit will be completedtothe battery to the motors 16 and electromagnets 18. Each rack bar 13upon reaching its upward limit ot'movement willengage its respectiveelectromagnets and be held in the upward position thereby. As soon asthe train passes beyond the third rail 5 the circuit will be broken andthe weight of the bars 13 will cause the same to drop and consequentlyraise the gate arm 10 to thenormal vertical position more clearly shownin Figure 4.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a highly novel, simple, andeiiicient form of automatiegate mechanism for railway crossings that iswell adapted for all of the purposes hereinbefore designated, and thatmay be installed in an easy and cheap manner and thatis 'n'ot'liable toreadily become out of order. i

Minor changes may be made therein without departingfrom the spirit andscope of the invention and appended claim.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new is In an.automatic gate mechanism for railroad crossings, hollo vposts at thecrossing, each including a horizontally pivoted gate arm mounted forswinging movement on the outside 7 of the post, a vertically sliding ii'eightcd bar arranged within each post and operatively connected withthe arm whereby movement of the same in oppositedirections will causethe swinging of the arms in opposite directions, an electric motoroperatively connected to said bar for moving the same upwardly, said barbeing adapted to move downwardly by gravity, an electric magnet in eachhollow post supported above-the slidable weighted bar arran ed in thesame circuit with the motor, said electromagnet engaging the upper endof the bar for holding the same in a raised position for maintaining theswinging arm in a' horizontal position, cooperating means between theelectric motor and the slidable weighted bar for cutting off theelectric motor automatically when the weighted bar is raised to apredetermined position, said last mentioned means comprising a switchassociated with the electromotor, said switch including pivoted plateand a trip carried by the weighted bar and adapted forengagement withthe pivoted plate of the cut-out switch. i V

In testimony whereof I atria; mysignature.

JOSEPH FILLIAM SHEANQ

